


Vulnerable

by MayaThisIsMadness



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Cuddling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Galra Keith (Voltron), I GUESS IT'S FLUFF, I was feeling sad and I needed a pick me up, Kissing, M/M, Sharing a Bed, idk guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-12
Updated: 2017-01-12
Packaged: 2018-09-17 03:09:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9301367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MayaThisIsMadness/pseuds/MayaThisIsMadness
Summary: My poor boy Keith angsting over finding out he's galra and Lance the literal sun comes to brighten his life.





	

**Author's Note:**

> "Share with me the blankets that you're wrapped in  
> Because it's cold outside, cold outside, it's cold outside  
> Share with me the secrets that you kept in  
> Because it's cold inside, cold inside, it's cold inside."
> 
> -"Vulnerable", Secondhand Serenade

Keith hadn't been around for days. 

Ever since the team got back from their last mission he had locked himself away in his room and refused to talk to anyone. At least that's what Lance overheard from a discussion he definitely wasn't eavesdropping on between Shiro and Allura. 

Lance had been there when Keith discovered he was, at least in part, galra. The look on Keith's face alone had been devastating and nothing Lance had said at the time to get him to listen reached him. Keith started throwing himself at every enemy they came across and, honestly, it scared the living shit out of Lance. He'd seen the guy fight before with his sword, but never with the blind rage and recklessness he'd seen that night on that mission. 

Needless to say, Keith got himself seriously fucked up in that mission. He attacked with a complete abandonment for all self-preservation and Lance could barely keep up as he trailed after him, yelling for him to stop. But the more Lance tried to reach him, the more he threw himself away until he finally went and got himself shot. 

After that, Keith was out of it. He stayed conscious for a whole two minutes as Lance tried to hold off the galra soldiers that had somehow survived Keith's outburst before passing out from blood loss. A stone in Lance's chest dropped to his stomach as he screamed Keith's name. 

He had abandoned his post and ran to Keith's side. He had cradled Keith's head in his hands. He had shook his shoulder. He had checked for a pulse, nearly crying of joy when he realized he still had one. Lance had to carry him back to the ship and help Coran pull shrapnel out of Keith's side before getting him into the healing pod.

Once Keith woke up, though, he never even once acknowledged Lance's existence, or anyone's, electing to take dinner to his room and train in the dead of night after everyone else had turned in.

The others had heard through the helmet com about Keith's heritage and been uneasy around him right when he fell out of the pod. Nobody said a word, not even Shiro, who Lance had assumed would make some sort of inspiring team speech about Keith not being alone in this and all that. Instead, the room was silent and it took Keith about a second to make up his mind about all their feelings.

He hadn't even given Lance a chance to speak when he ran after him. He slammed the door in his face and never opened it back, not even for Shiro, apparently.

They had stayed safely away from active galra occupied areas as to not draw attention to themselves while Keith was dealing. They knew in their state they couldn't form Voltron, but no one could blame him for needing some time. Shiro and Allura had agreed to give him a few more days before calling an intervention. Both were reluctant at the idea because they knew Keith would detest the thought of having to openly discuss his feelings about all this, but there really was no other choice.

When Lance heard, he finally made up his mind to try getting to Keith again. He knew the guy was bad at talking about feelings anyway (if the blush on Keith's face when he told Lance he didn't actually hate him meant anything). He didn't want him to have to deal with a crowd of expectant, though caring, faces hounding him to open up on top of everything else. 

He made his way down the hall, light footsteps echoing to the ceiling and back as he hesitantly approached Keith's door. His feet paused a foot away. He held up his hand and let it hang there in ready position to knock. The air in his lungs stayed frozen as he hesitated, scared of the rejection he was sure was to come. 

He sighed and shook his head. This wasn't about him, Keith's problem was the important thing right now, not Lance's insecurities. He let his knuckles fall onto the door.

A muffled voice replied from somewhere behind the door, “Shiro, I told you, please just leave me-”

“Keith, it's me,” he said, then added, “Uh, Lance.”

There was a pause and he briefly wondered if Keith had heard him. He opened his mouth again to continue when he heard the keypad on the other side of the wall unlock and the door slid open.

Keith looked… rough. His hair, which was usually neatly brushed, looked greasy and tangled. His nose looked red and eyes bloodshot. 

Lance glanced around him and saw his room was unusually messy. His jacket lay on the floor by the door as did his shoes. His blankets were bunched up at the foot of his bed. Drawers were opened. Souvenirs from planets they had visited lay haphazardly scattered across every surface. The only light on drifted ominously from the bathroom, which was in a similar disarray as the rest of the room.

“What, Lance?” Keith asked, arms crossed.

Lance's attention snapped back to the boy standing in front of him and the sight once again hit him of just how unwell he looked.

Lance motioned toward Keith's room, “Could I…?

Keith looked him over for a moment, sighed, then stepped away to let Lance in.

Lance was surprised at the gesture. He hadn't even let Shiro in, but then again, Lance was the one who had been there first hand. Lance was the one that had yelled for him to stop, and slow down, and not kill himself as he practically tried to throw his life away, damn it.

Keith shut the door behind them but didn't bother turning the lights on in the main part of the room. He brushed passed Lance and flopped onto his bed, back against the wall, and settled his glance somewhere to the right of Lance's shoulder.

He pulled his bottom lip between his teeth as he debated what to say next. He had clearly come with a purpose, but not a plan, and for once just letting himself speak unfiltered wasn't going to cut it.

He pulled the chair out from the desk behind him and sat down in it, not once taking his eyes off the boy on the bed who was carefully avoiding eye contact. He sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. What do you say in these situations? Where was he supposed to start?

“Keith-”

“I’m one of them.”

Lance blinked, surprised by the straightforwardness of his words, but then again he wasn't.

“You're not-”

“Yes I am, Lance. You were there! You saw what she showed me. You heard what the witch said. You all did.”

Lance swallowed.

Keith dropped his head in his hands, pulling his legs up onto the bed and folding them into his chest.

Somewhere in the lump on the bed Lance heard a sniffle. He paused, staring at the mess of blankets Keith was starting to pull around himself. He had never heard Keith cry before. He didn't think anyone else on the ship had either.

After a moment longer, Lance sighed.

“You're not one of them.”

Keith looked up from the hem of his blankets.

“What are you talking about? Don't you remember what happened? It explains so much now. God, I'm an abomination.”

“Keith,” Lance gasped, shifting forward on his seat. 

Keith avoided his eyes, opting to pull the blanket higher instead.

Lance pushed himself off the chair to kneel on the floor, his eyes straining to focus on Keith's huddled figure in the dark.

“You're not- Keith, you are not an abomination. You're a paladin of Voltron.”

“So what?” Keith snapped, “I have their blood in my veins. How could I ever look any of you in the eyes again? God, Shiro and _Allura_ -”

“Don't think of you any differently. _Keith_ -” Lance insisted, “-none of us do.”

“How could you not?” Keith's voice was steadily raising, but cracked on the last syllable, “After everything that they've done.”

“But you haven't done anything.”

“So?” He choked, “I'm- I'm one of them. It's only if matter of time…”

Keith readjusted his jaw and looked away. 

“That's insane, man-”

Keith yanked the blankets over his head. Lance huffed a laugh, though completely void of any humor.

He pulled himself up to sit on the bed across from him. The mattress bounced as he pulled his legs into a crisscross. 

Carefully, he tugged at the edges of the blanket that draped over Keith's drawn in legs. He lifted it carefully over his head and scooted in closer, letting the blanket fall back over him. There was only enough light that made its way in from the bathroom to cast shadows across their faces. The air was already stuffy.

Keith looked up from his legs to glare at him, but Lance could see the vulnerability behind his eyes.

“Keith, you are not going to become like them,” Lance started, “You're- dude, look at me. That's not you. We know that's not you and so do you.”

“But-”

“No, no 'but’s. It doesn't matter the slight difference in the genetic code of your DNA. You're Keith. Our instinct driven hot-head. Act first, regret later. Our mullet-haired emo.”

Keith sniffled, “I'm not _emo_.”

“Yes, you are. Black fingerless gloves. Skinny jeans.”

“It's practical.”

“It's your aesthetic.”

Keith huffed and dropped his legs to his sides, mirroring Lance's position. The blanket fell into a tent over their heads.

The small smile that had begun to hint at his mouth dropped and he sighed again, plopping his head in his hands. The blanket drooped with him.

Lance could barely make out the muffled words from behind Keith's hands.

“I can't face everyone yet.”

His eyes danced over Keith's hunched form. Before he could think better of it, he reached out and pulled Keith's hands down. Keith let him, hands falling together between them.

Keith’s eyes flicked to meet his. Between the darkness of the makeshift blanket fort and Keith’s eyelashes, Lance could barely make out the question behind the dark indigo of his eyes.

“Okay,” Lance said.

“Huh?” Keith blinked a couple times, shaking his head a bit.

His mouth quirked at Keith's expression.

“Okay,” Lance repeated, “You don't need to talk to everyone yet. Take your time. We don't blame you. Honestly, if I were in your place I- I don't know how I would take it, but definitely not as well as you are.”

Keith rolled his eyes but Lance could see the small smile trying to creep back on his face. If he didn't know better, he would call it fond.

“Whenever you're ready, so are we. But, just so you know,” Lance swallowed, finally dropping his eyes from Keith, focusing back on their hands that still laid on top of each other. Keith's fingers twitched slightly, but he didn't pull away. Lance moved one of his fingers to brush on Keith's wrist, “We, uh- we miss you. We don't care about all this as long as you're still with us.”

Lance glanced up to meet the eyes that were staring attentively back at him. 

Keith let out a shaky breath. The air brushed over Lance's upper lip and it sent a shiver down his spine. He didn't think that was actually something that happened, just something people talked about, but the tingle that ran through him was very real.

Their eyes locked.

“You,” Lance started, but it came out scratchy. Keith’s eyes darted to his mouth and back up. Lance tried again, “You make our team better, it doesn't matter... this doesn't matter.”

Lance found himself leaning closer as Keith dropped his eyes to their hands. He moved to touch his fingertips lightly on Keith's chin, tilting it up so he had no choice but to look at him.

“This doesn't change how we see you. How- how I see you, at least.”

A slight intake of breath. They were wavering on the tip of a cliff and Keith was leaning forward.

Lance swallowed again, carefully moving his hand to cup Keith's cheek.

Eyes alternated between Lance's eyes and lips.

“Uh,” Lance said smartly. He knew he shouldn't do this, but the pull that dragged him forward was too distinct to ignore, especially with the look on Keith's face. It wouldn't be right to just kiss him now after everything Keith was dealing with. He knew that it would take more than just a kiss to make Keith feel better. He needed time to come to terms and accept it.

But still, they both were frozen in the moment. He didn't know how long they stared at each other in the quiet. The conversation slipped away into the dark, but Lance's words still swam through the air. 

“Keith?” he whispered, Keith seemed to break out of a dream at the sound, “Could I kiss you?”

A sharp intake of breath. Their noses were already just centimeters apart and they brushed together when Keith nodded and leaned. 

They closed the distance and for the first moment neither moved, just the slight pressure of lips against lips. Then Keith exhaled slowly and scooted closer, intertwining his fingers with Lance's that still rested between them. He moved his other hand to wrap gently around Lance's neck. 

Using the hand that still held Keith's chin, he tilted their heads into a more comfortable angle. Their lips moved together slowly, like they had been doing this for years. 

The scent of Keith, though a little raw from taking such poor care of himself, filled Lance's lungs and penetrated his thoughts. Then he focused on the taste on his lips. The skin beneath his fingers was soft and he moved his hand to cup Keith's face, thumb brushing over his cheekbone.

Keith surged forward suddenly, pushing Lance back in surprise before he pressed back. There was a desperation in Keith's touch. He dragged his tongue along Lance's bottom lip to deepen the kiss. He parted his lips in surprise and Keith pushed further. He tightened his hold on Lance's hand. 

Lance couldn't quite keep up. The intensity was fitting for Keith, but the desperation in the breathes he took before pressing their lips back together was not. There was suddenly a wetness on Lance’s fingers and he pulled away. Keith's head fell from out of Lance's hand and into the dip of his neck. 

Lance pulled his hand away from Keith's to envelope him with both of his arms. A hiccup escaped the body under his hands, bouncing Keith's shoulders beneath him. He rubbed a soothing hand over his spine.

He felt the brush of Keith's lips on the skin of his collarbone mix with drops of moisture. The mouth worked its way up his throat to his jaw. Keith kissed the corner of Lance mouth before pulling his bottom lip between his teeth, attempting to drag Lance back into the kiss.

Lance sighed and let his lips join Keith's once before pulling away.

“Hey,” he said softly. Keith's cheeks were reddened and Lance would guess it was just because he was flustered if it weren't for the dampness of his skin.

He took his face in his hands, rubbing away the loose moisture under his eyes.

“Shh,” he whispered, the hand still on Keith's back ghosting up and down, “It's okay.”

Keith pushed his face into Lance's palm. 

“I think that's enough for tonight, don't you?”

Keith let out a long breath but nodded anyway.

Lance readjusted them to take the blanket off from over their heads, the crisp air felt like ice on his skin after the warmth of their fort drifted away.

“We can continue this when you're not as…” Lance’s hand swished to indicate Keith's current state.

Keith just nodded again, his head hanging down, not meeting his eyes.

“I'll see you in the morning.”

He stood and pulled himself off the bed before Keith's hand shot out to grab his wrist.

“Wait,” he trained his eyes on Lance. His look was frantic for an instant until they melted into something softer. This unguarded version of Keith was still surprising, the way he could see the loneliness behind his eyes.

“Stay,” he said, “I mean, could you stay with me tonight? Please?”

Lance smiled softly at him and he stepped back toward the bed. 

“Just can't get enough, huh?” Lance's smile widened, “I get it.”

Keith rolled his eyes but returned Lance’s smile affectionately.

He climbed over Keith to lay on the bed between him and the wall. He wrapped his long arms across Keith and pulled him flush against his chest. 

They lay there silently, only the low hum of the castle and the rhythm of their breaths to fill the room.

After countless moments passed, Keith shifted under Lance's arm.

“Thank you,” Keith whispered, tucking his head into the warmth of his body, “for this.”

“Of course.”

**Author's Note:**

> I needed a little break from the plot and angst of Settle Down so here I am... Writing more angst?? I just needed to do this, okay?  
> Hope you liked it : )
> 
> Also I wrote this before s2 so that's why it doesn't follow canon galra stuff, yeah.


End file.
